451 



archipelago. It goes to Australia ; and Mr. Gould, in his ' Hand-book,' gives the following 

 account of the species : — " Although nowhere very abundant, this bird is generally dispersed 

 over all the colonies from Tasmania to the extreme north of the continent of Australia. In all 

 probability it is the same bird that is found in the island of Java, and more than probably the 

 species inhabiting India; its range, therefore, is very extensive. I obtained several specimens 

 on the banks of the Derwent, in Tasmania, observed it in small numbers on the flats below 

 Clarence Plains, and also killed examples on one of the islands in Bass's Straits. Its habits, 

 manners, and general economy so closely resemble those of the Golden Plover of Europe 

 (Charadrius pluvialis) that a description of one is equally characteristic of the other. Like 

 that bird, it frequents open plains in the neighbourhood of marshy lands or the sea-beach, runs 

 with amazing facility, and flies with equal rapidity. Indications of the black colouring of the 

 breast or breeding-plumage begin to appear early in the spring, and as the season advances every 

 variety of colouring occurs, from the mottled yellow of winter to the uniform black under surface 

 of summer, which latter state, however, is but seldom seen; whence I am induced to doubt its 

 remaining to breed in any of the southern parts of Australia." All over Oceania it likewise 

 seems to range ; and a detailed account of the exact localities where the species has been met 

 with will be found in the above-mentioned book by Drs. Finsch and Hartlaub on the birds of 

 Central Polynesia. Dr. E. Graffe found this species at Tongatabu, and writes concerning it : — 

 " They occur in flocks, which, on sand-banks which offer abundance of food, consist of from thirty to 

 fifty individuals ; they run on the sand-banks left dry at low water, seeking for Crustacea, small 

 fish, &c. If approached within gunshot, one will utter a shrill tuli lull twi twi, which the rest 

 repeat, and then they take flight. At high water they frequent the open grassy places on fields 

 and fallows. This species is found all the year round at Tongatabu, but is most numerous from 

 October to March, and during the season of migration." 



The description of the egg is thus given by Mr. Swinhoe: — "Its eggs, four in number, are 

 laid in a loose nest of dried grasses and fibres placed in a hollow. They are of a yellowish-grey 

 ground-colour, blotched and spotted with deep blackish sepia, and have occasional obsolete 

 purplish-grey spots. They do not vary much in size, are narrowed near the end, and measure 

 1-5 inch by IT." 



In the preparation of the above article we have examined the following specimens : — 



E Mus. Sharpe and Dresser, 

 a. Djedda, Rea Sea (S. Stafford Allen), b. Hakodadi, September 24th, 1865 (H. Whitely). 



E Mus. J. Edmund Harting. 



a, 6 . Lake Baikal, November 29th, 1869 (Dybowski). b, 6. India (E. Blyth). c, d. Calcutta (E. Blyth). 

 e, 2- India (Deyrolle). f, g, 3, $. Java [Frank), h. East Timor (A. R. Wallace), i. Batchian. 

 j. Australia (Verreaux). k. Australia. l,m,n. Amoy, China, May 1861, October 1866, and September 

 1867 [R. Swinhoe). o, ? . Hakodadi, October 3rd, 1865 {H. Whitely). 



E Mus. H. B. Tristram, 

 a. S.-W. Formosa (R. Swinhoe). b. Foochow, October 1859 (R. Swinhoe). 



